Inquisitor 1280

[Kobnut]

did anyone else find today's Inquisitor rather unsatisfactory? I finished it well before I managed to work out what I think the quotation is and have still not got several of Nudd's intended endings.

[Red Dave]

I have "finished" the crossword, but am struggling to discover five of the letters in the quotation. ( E I F E and O ).

It doesn't help as we cannot be sure where the relevant words were cut!

Like you, I find it mildly unsatisfying.

[puzzled272]

Agree with the above; finished long before I found the quote. The preamble says "... should help with the unclued, shaded answers." - the grid doesn't have any shaded answers; is this a euphemism for their state?

[boreas]

E is from 28ac.
correct, not corrupt.
I is from 34ac.
string, not strumpet.
f is from 4d, defraud, not delight.
E is from 11d.
jerk, not jury.
O is from 35d.
pouring, not processing.

[TheBear69]

An interesting idea for a new way to generate letters for a quote, but it seems as if there is too much potential for ambiguity; e.g. why not 'fagged' instead of 'fatigued' or maybe that's not even the intended word. It would be better if the word lengths had been preserved.

I knew a lot of the theme words, of course, but was not aware of the interesting thing they all have in common - hence the clue number of the entry to be highlighted.

[Garaman]

Yes I also thought it was an interesting new way to generate letters and I admire Nudd for trying, but I am not sure in this case that it worked for the reasons given above. A lot of the clues were quite easy really otherwise it could have been impossible. I too finished the grid before finding the quote so it was a bit of a chore to find rather than an assistance. I still enjoyed it but not one of Nudd’s best.

[grace_slick]

Yes, interesting and I had the same problem as Red Dave in a couple of places, until I had my DOH moment. There is something cleverly subtle going on in these clues - not wanting to give too much away, but think of 'a number' (which might just be thematic) and check out how precisely it relates to each of those damaged clues.

As for the lost shading, there's an explanation on the Crossword Centre bulletin board. Editor seems a little displeased.

[Garaman]

Thanks for that Grace_slick and sorry Nudd. I retract my comment regarding it not working - it is actually very neat. It is a shame being so clever that a lot like me won't notice!

[Indy-trier]

I too found this somewhat irritating! The theme was obvious as soon as, having completed the top left corner, the unclued 2d and 11a gave the game away. From there it was easy to find the other unclued answers and the quote without completing the puzzle. As the method for finding the quote letters seemed so haphazard this was probably a good thing! Good try, Nudd, but not my favourite!
Another grumble. Did anyone else dislike finding this puzzle removed from the mag and with a new layout or was it just me? I found e mag version easier to scan onto A4!!
Now to enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday!

[Deadeasy]

Good to see grace_slick on board. Hope you said White Rabbits on 1st of May, Grace.

Like some of the other people, I found the crossword reasonably easy, and the theme straightforward - though I have yet to work out the quote (not sure if I can be bothered to do so, even though I now appreciate the double significance of a certain number).

I also disliked the new format. It's disruptive - the pattern of our Saturday mornings has been that my wife generally reads the paper over breakfast whilst I cut out the Inquisitor and photocopy it slightly enlarged onto an A4 sheet. Not only does the new positioning of the crossword make this awkward, but the paper quality of newsprint is such that there's more read-through. Altogether unsatisfactory.

[Gregsdad]

I get and appreciate the skill and subtlety that Miss has put into the construction of the damaged clues but why is this virtually invisible and not flagged in the preamble ?

[Gregsdad]

Sorry, Nudd, you may be a Miss but the predictive texting got carried away !

[grace_slick]

"Hope you said White Rabbits on 1st of May, Grace".

... yes I did Deadeasy - after bathing at Baxters

[Deadeasy]

If you're looking for Volunteers to join you, Grace, I'm sure I can spare 30 Seconds Over Winterland.

[rabet]

Puzzle finished ~ but could somebody please give me a hint as to how the "damaged" clues connect with a number (presumably the same number as the answer to be highlighted? Or not?

[Gregsdad]

Rabet

Count the number of letters from the start of the clue to the point at which the truncated word's ending is replaced

[rabet]

Thanks for that, Gregsdad.